Opinion: Religious liars - the plague of society

January 12, 12:35 PMAtheism ExaminerTrina Hoaks

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The more I travel down the internet super highway, the more I notice that people lie. Some do it innocently enough while others do it blatantly - driven by agenda. Some of the lies are seemingly benign while others can fuel the fires of hatred and bigotry. Some of the people who are telling these lies are doing so as a means of peddling their self-proclaimed superiority.

Much of the rhetoric I read reminds me of that which Hitler spewed while he was on his quest for domination. He singled out people or groups of people he felt weren’t worthy, to persecute and slaughter en masse. His sentiments are echoed in the voices of so many religious zealots of today.

This same type of exaggerated self-importance occurs across the globe every day. You cannot read the paper, watch TV, or “troll” the internet without seeing it. The most stunning cases of this are in places that most Americans have never visited. They do not see the kinds of examples of extreme violence on their home soil that they witness in other parts of the world so they delude themselves into believing that this kind of thing is a worldly phenomenon that does not, cannot touch them. At the very least, after the 9/11 attack, they do not think such terrorism can come from within their own borders. They seem to think that something so openly viscous could never happen in such a “civilized” place as the United States of America.

What these people seem to fail to realize is that the effects of hatred can manifest in other actions besides dropping missiles or firing guns. Further, they seem to think their brand of persecution (though they most likely wouldn’t call it that) is somehow more “dignified” or otherwise more acceptable than that which is occurring in other parts of the world.

Those people who daily commit atrocities in the name of some mythological deity are looked down upon by god-fearing Americans who would deny vehemently that they have anything in common with those murderers whose “esteemed” deities prompt them, via scripture, to wear a mask of superiority.

Yet, here we are in modern day America witnessing religious leaders professing their “chosen” status to the masses. They demand respect from all those around them. When they do not get their assumed due respect, they accuse the dissenters of defamation. They will then try to strike down, by use of real defamatory actions, those who oppose them.

They spill their bile over the masses that they look down upon while claiming some mystically divine authority. And all the while they fill their Web sites, pulpits, and congregates' heads with not only their antiquated mythology (selling it as truth) but with newly fabricated propaganda to perpetuate their goal of remaking the US in their image (imagination). Some might call this a god complex.

These religious fanatics intentionally twist facts to satisfy their witch-hunt tendencies. They convince their minions that anyone who is not like them is undeserving of the same consideration, privilege, and rights that they demand be afforded them. (Sounds like Hitler.)

They stake false claim on a nation that is not solely theirs and never was, though they argue tooth and nail that it is and was. They tell their followers – their lemmings – that certain groups, be it liberals, democrats, homosexuals, humanists, secularists, or atheists, lie when they speak of historical fact concerning the US, the Constitution, laws, and the like. They intentionally put forth misrepresentations of those aforementioned groups when speaking to their groupies to try to discredit those who resist their tyranny.

Their agenda requires that they build a base of falsehoods because its tenets certainly could not stand on a foundation of truth. These deceptive leaders understand that most of their followers are not fact checkers (it is a sin after all) so they feel comfortable lying as they know they will most likely get away with it. People will believe anything they are told by their religious leaders especially when those lies coincide with the dogmatic messages that have been massaged into their brains since birth. And those gullible, naive dupes unwittingly spread those lies as if they are truths. And so it goes.

These lies – these misconceptions – these myths plague society in the same way that missile-dropping zealots’ beliefs do. They promote hatred; they promote bigotry; they promote fear – all in the name of a “loving” god. And although their tactics may be more subtle than, let’s say, the 9/11 terrorists, the destructive potential is apparent if one takes but a moment to consider it.
While it is true that these groups have not gone to the extremes that Hitler did in his arrogant quest (at least not recently or not yet again), it doesn’t mean that the ramifications of their propaganda are any less destructive or dangerous. They spread their lies like a bad disease for which there seems to be no cure.

Fortunately, there is a cure for this plague. That cure is reason - reason leads to truth. As long as there are people who stand up and expose the zealots for the liars they are there is a chance to slow the spread. The longer we continue to inject reason into the veins of this religiously infected nation, the more we will weaken its immunity to the truth. And as newer generation come of age, they will understand that they have a choice. They will know that they do not have to quell under the fear-mongers’ dogmatic tyranny. They will know that living a life of lies is not a means to the well being of humanity. And as they grow in truth, they will pass that truth on to theirs. Although it will not happen overnight and most probably not in my lifetime, I believe that if we continue to bring truth to light, this nation will one day flourish as it was intended – with liberty and justice for all.

I have heard people say that this is a ridiculous battle that will never end. They seem to think it is a futile undertaking. I remind them that in the past people believed the same of many historical battles that in the end yielded positive results. Imagine if people like Rosa Parks, for example, had thought along those lines. Like Rosa Parks, those who oppose the tyranny of the majority are those who lead us justly into tomorrow.